Press Gallery: Mismanagement mars MPAs’ visit to presidency

Only 15 of 45 members of training programme attended interactive session

LAHORE:

President Arif Alvi has reportedly expressed displeasure over mismanagement and violation of protocol and the code of conduct during an interactive session held at Aiwan-e-Sadar for members of Punjab Assembly participating in a training programme.

Most of the members skipped the session and a deputy secretary gave a briefing to the president, upon which the protocol officials raised objections.

Letters have been sent to the Economic Affairs Division and the speaker of Punjab Assembly for taking notice of the matter. Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has also expressed anger over the issue and ordered action against those responsible. A notice has been issued to the executive director, of the Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO), which had arranged training for the members of the assembly. The organisation has been asked to explain the incident that marred the event. As a result, the organisation's MoU with the Punjab Assembly is also reported to be in jeopardy.

According to Punjab Assembly sources, at the time of departure of the delegation of lawmakers from Lahore for training, the schedule given to them did not include the interaction with President Alvi. The speaker and secretary Punjab Assembly were also not informed. No permission was sought from the speaker to nominate members of the assembly for the training programme According to sources, the speaker has objected to the participation in the training of some members involved in controversies. The most prominent example is of PTI's Uzma Kardar. The party has terminated her membership for violating discipline, but she delivered a speech at the event at the presidency. This has caused unease in the ruling party.

PTI chief organiser Saifullah Niazi has also written a letter to Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, saying that Kardar should not be made a part of any government committee or board and she should also be removed from the post of chairperson of a standing committee of the Punjab Assembly.

The Aiwan-e-Sadar was informed about the participation of 45 members of the assembly in the interactive session but only 15 of them attended the event along with government officials and other people.

A deputy secretary of the Punjab Department of Local Government gave a briefing to the president, upon which the DG protocol raised objections.

Chairs were also placed for the PML-N members participating in the training programme but at the last minute, the party boycotted the session. This put the president in an awkward position.

Asiya Amjad, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Higher Education, Punjab Assembly, said the training programme had been conducted on the role of standing committees but the heads of the committees were not invited.

However, Kausar Abbas, Executive Director, SSDO, said there was no violation of rules and regulations and no mismanagement in the event. The PTI has announced openning the doors of the Aiwan-e-Sadar and Governor Houses to the public and they should not object to a deputy secretary speaking. Thirty lawmakers and assembly and government officials attended the event.

Meanwhile, the first session of the third parliamentary year of the Punjab Assembly will continue for a week and many laws will be passed, including four on FATF.

Senior PML-N MPA Samiullah Khan called on the speaker and informed him about the opposition's concerns over non-implementation of the production order of Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2020.